Back in 2005, when Mithali Raj led India out in the final, most of the country barely knew a Women’s World Cup was being played in South Africa. The nation’s cricketing chatter revolved around Greg Chappell’s controversies with the men’s team, while women’s cricket existed quietly in the shadows - in empty stands and forgotten scorecards.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India wasn’t even officially tied to the women’s side then. Cut to 2025 - India are in their third World Cup final, this time at a roaring DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The tickets are gone. The stands will be packed, hearts beating as one - a far cry from those silent afternoons two decades ago.

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In 2017, against England, they came so close. A few runs short, a few tears too many. That night at Lord’s broke hearts but built belief - belief that Indian women could not just dream, but dare. That defeat became a promise: we will return. Stronger. Louder. Unbreakable.

Now, in 2025, that promise stands on the brink of fulfilment. A home World Cup final. A sea of tricolours. A captain who wears her scars like medals, leading a generation that refuses to bow.

The 1983 triumph changed Indian men’s cricket forever. Forty-two years later, Harmanpreet Kaur and her warriors have the chance to do the same - to turn pain into pride, struggle into legacy, and 2025 into the year Indian women’s cricket finally takes its rightful place in history’s heart.

MITHALI COULDN’T.